Sunday Roast

It's Sunday and we are into our routine.  Have you noticed that as we age we like our routine more? No?  Then you must not be doing it right!  Luckily part of our routine includes eating better than we have in years and feeling better for it.

BP (before Paleo), Paleo Grandad's favourite meal was my nachos - corn chips, refried beans, sliced green olives, sliced black olives, and lots of Tex-Mex cheese melted on top (even though he is extremely lactose intolerant).  As a treat, I made nachos for him last night and they are no longer his favourite -  he was violently sick after.  I know - TMI, but lesson learnt, I don't think he will be asking for nachos again any time soon.

Back to our Sunday routine:  start Nom Nom Paleo's Kalua Pork in the slow cooker; make a large mug of decaf coffee with one teaspoon of coconut sugar and lots of full fat coconut milk - love it; start laundry; check Twitter, all my favourite Paleo blogs and watch Coronation Street (as I have been doing for forty years); make brunch; make lunch; make dinner; blog.   My idea of a relaxing day.

Youngest Son has the good luck of having a friend whose family raises pasture-fed beef and he was able to get some pastured ground beef, pastured beef breakfast sausages, pastured beef dinner sausages and, Paleo Grandad's favourite, pastured beef pepperoni beef sticks.  With my big meat purchase at Seafair Gourmet Meats, the freezer is full and we are set for great meals over the next few weeks.

Now onto today's recipes:

Brunch

Pastured Beef Breakfast Sausages from Back Valley Ranch            
Almond Flour Waffles - I am not going to give you the recipe today because while they tasted good, they were a little heavy.  So I am going to play with the recipe next Sunday (oh darn, waffles two Sundays in a row).

Late Lunch

Shrimp, Mango, Cucumber Salad
(Serves 4)

1 lb. small shrimp, peeled, deveined and cooked and roughly chopped
1 large mango, peeled and cut into small cubes
1/2 large English cucumber, washed (leave skin on), cut into small chunks
1 large avocado, peeled and cubed
1/3 cup olive oil
1/3 cup lime juice (or you can use apple cider vinegar if you don't have limes in the fridge)
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
1 Tbsp. honey (or maple syrup)
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Combine the olive oil, lime juice, mustard, honey, and salt and pepper in a small jar.  Shake vigorously until well combined.
2. Place the chopped shrimp, mango, cucumber and avocado in a large bowl.  Some chopped red pepper would be good too, but I didn't have any.
3. Add the dressing and combine gently.
4. We just put it in a bowl and ate it.

Sunday Dinner

Nom Nom Paleo's Kalua Pork recipe (available on her iPad app - well worth the minimal fee to get)
- though you would get a crisper pork if you have a slow cooker with a start timer - I could only cook it for 11 hours instead of the 16 hours (I would have had to get up at 1:00 in the morning to put it on to have it ready for a 6:00 p.m. dinner), so it was not as crisp as hers turns out.

Mashed Sweet Potatoes Topped with Baked Apples
(Serves 4)

After the produce markets and grocery stores having tons of huge sweet potatoes (yams) for sale for Thanksgiving, there was not a good choice this week, so I thought I would pick up some actual sweet potatoes(white inside) for a recipe I wanted to try. I am sure a lot of people prefer the white to the orange but not me - I didn't care for the colour or the texture.

2 medium sweet potatoes (or yams which I think would be better in this recipe)
3 small apples (use your favourite cooking apples - I used Gala this time)
2 Tbsp. melted ghee - divided into two (you could also use coconut oil)
1 Tbsp. coconut sugar
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. Peel the sweet potatoes and slice into 1/2" chunks.
3. Place in a baking dish and drizzle with 1 Tbsp. ghee.
4. Sprinkle salt and pepper to taste over top.
5. Cover tightly with foil and bake for 45 minutes or until you can pierce the potatoes easily with a paring knife.
6. Peel, core and quarter the apples.
7. Place the apples in a baking dish and drizzle with the remaining 1 Tbsp. of ghee.
8. Sprinkle the coconut sugar and a pinch of salt over the apples.
9. Cover tightly with foil and bake for 1/2 an hour or until slightly browned and carmelized.
10. When the potatoes are soft, either mash or transfer to a food processor and process until smooth.  I found with the white sweet potatoes they get a real gummy texture if you process them too long.
11. To serve, put a scoop of potato on the plate and then add some of the carmelized apples on top.  A good side dish for the Kalua Pork.

Roasted Brussels sprouts rounded out the meal - very filling.